Game details

Going into the game, Bills coach Wade Phillips created a stir by starting quarterback Rob Johnson, rather than Doug Flutie, who had started 15 games and had led the team to the playoffs.

First half

After a scoreless first quarter, the Titans opened up the scoring when Jevon Kearse sacked Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson in the end zone for a safety. Johnson completed just 10 of 22 passes while being sacked 6 times, including twice by Kearse. Wide receiver Derrick Mason returned the free kick 42 yards to the Bills' 28-yard line; five plays later, Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. After forcing a punt, the Titans drove 56 yards in 11 plays. Kicker Al Del Greco initially missed a 45-yard field goal attempt, but the Bills were penalized for defensive holding on the play and Del Greco's second attempt was good from 40 yards on the last play of the half. At the end of the half, the Bills were trailing 12–0 and had gained only 64 yards, while also losing 44 yards on 9 penalties.

Second half

In the second half, the Bills rallied. On Buffalo's first play of the third quarter, Antowain Smith broke off a 44-yard run, sparking a 62-yard drive that ended with his 4-yard touchdown run 4 plays later. Later on, the Bills drove 65 yards, featuring a 37-yard completion from Johnson to Eric Moulds, with a roughing the passer penalty on Kearse adding another 15. Smith finished the drive with another 4-yard touchdown run, giving the Bills a 13–12 lead after receiver Kevin Williams dropped a pass from Johnson on the two-point conversion attempt.

Conclusion

Late in the fourth quarter, the stage was set for an exciting finish. Tennessee received the ball with 6:15 remaining. Titans receiver Isaac Byrd's 16-yard punt return and five carries from Eddie George for 17 yards set up a wobbly 36-yard field goal by Al Del Greco, giving the Titans a 15–13 lead with 1:48 to go.

On the ensuing drive, with no timeouts remaining, Bills quarterback Rob Johnson led a 5-play, 37-yard drive to the Titans' 24-yard line. On the last play from scrimmage, Johnson played wearing only one shoe, having lost the other shoe in a scramble, and with the clock running, he had no time to put it back on. With only 16 seconds remaining in the game, Bills kicker Steve Christie made a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo in the lead, 16–15.

Moments later, Christie kicked off, and the Titans' Lorenzo Neal received. Neal handed the ball off to tight end Frank Wycheck, who threw the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. The officials ruled Wycheck's pass to have been a legal lateral (i.e., a pass that went sideways or backward) rather than an illegal forward pass, and awarded the Titans the touchdown.[2]

The play was named "Home Run Throwback" by the Titans and was developed by special-teams coordinator Alan Lowry. The Titans ran the play regularly in practices during the regular season, though the practices usually involved Derrick Mason, who had been injured earlier in the game and was unavailable for the situation. Dyson, as one of the team's lead wide receivers, rarely practiced with the special-teams unit and was mostly unfamiliar with the layout of the play. Nevertheless, his execution of Lowry's vision was flawless.

Official review

Per the instant replay rules, a booth review was called. The play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett to determine whether the line judge's ruling that the throw had not been a forward pass was correct. One of the on-field sideline mobile cameras had been repositioned to provide a sideline view of the Titans' reception of the kickoff. This camera angle showed the unintended reception of the kickoff by Neal, but was blocked (by Titans players) from recording the single reverse handoff by Neal to Wycheck. However, it fully captured the lateral by Wycheck to Dyson.

Upon the replay of its feed, the camera showed that the line judge began to follow the development of the play when Neal had handed the ball off to Wycheck. The line judge had moved to the sideline yard marker as Wycheck had slowed to position himself to throw the lateral. After the lateral was thrown, the line judge moved again to realign himself with the yard marker, at which he had observed Dyson receiving the lateral. Because that second position was up field from the point where the line judge had positioned himself when Wycheck had thrown the ball, the line judge's hand signaled during the play that the pass was indeed a lateral and not an illegal forward pass. Therefore, Dyson's advancing the ball to the Buffalo end zone after the reception resulted in a legal touchdown. After a long official review, the video was deemed inconclusive to overturn the line judge's ruling on the field.

The Titans made one final kickoff, and the clock expired during the Bills' return. The Titans held on to win 22–16.

For the Bills, the debacle led to the firing of special-teams coach Bruce DeHaven, who had been with the team for 13 seasons. (DeHaven was eventually rehired by the Bills into the same position for three seasons beginning in 2010.) DeHaven's replacement, Ronnie Jones, did not perform well. After the 2000 season, Phillips was fired, having failed to lead the Bills past the first round of the playoffs during his tenure. Phillips was replaced by Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

The Music City Miracle was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history, joining "Wide Right" and "No Goal". This was Buffalo's last postseason game to date and it marked the start of the longest active streak of missing the playoffs in any of the four major North American sports leagues. The Bills' last playoff win came in 1995.

NFL Films hired a computer analyst to determine whether Luckett had made the correct call. They determined that the ball did not travel forward and that Luckett had made the correct ruling.[3]